Diffraction Limited Imaging Spectroscopy of the SgrA* Region using OSIRIS, a new Keck Instrument

A. Krabbe, C. Iserlohe J. E. Larkin, M. Barczys, M. McElwain, J. Weiss, S. A. Wright A. Quirrenbach


(1) I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, 50937 Köln, Germany
(2) Division of Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1562, USA
(3) Leiden Observatory, P.O. Box 9513, NL-2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

Paper: ApJ 2006, in press

EPrint Server: astro-ph/0605253


Abstract:

We present diffraction limited spectroscopic observations of an infrared flare associated with the radio source SgrA*. These are the first results obtained with OSIRIS, the new facility infrared imaging spectrograph for the Keck Observatory operated with the laser guide star adaptive optics system. After subtracting the spectrum of precursor emission at the location of Sgr A*, we find the flare has a spectral index (F( nu ) \propto nu alpha ) of alpha = -2.6 +/- 0.9. If we do not subtract the precursor light, then our spectral index is consistent with earlier observations by Ghez et al. (2005). All observations published so far suggest that the spectral index is a function of the flare's K-band flux.


Preprints available from the authors at iserlohe@ph1.uni-koeln.de , or the raw TeX (no figures) if you click here.

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